You know, maybe it's a wonder this didn't happen sooner. Tim Tebow, the hyper-religious, Focus on the Family-ad-filming, unsuccessful-3/4-of-the-time, wildly-successful-the-rest-of-the-time, media sensation Broncos quarterback, got brought up during a Republican presidential debate last night. The Tebow seal-breaker: Rick Perry, who used the QB's early-game struggles and late-game comebacks as a comparison to his own debate skills.

Certain moments have called Perry's debate skills into question, and the question was asked: could Perry quell fears that, were he to win the nomination, he'd be blown out of the water in a debate with Barack Obama? And then, it was Tebow time (video via Mediaite):

Give Perry some credit here: that was an enjoyable Tebow reference. Not only is Tebowmania at its peak currently, but we don't think it's controversial to guess a Republican audience would be more receptive to a Tebow reference than a Democratic one. We're not sure if Perry had this one in his back pocket to pull out whenever it seemed like it fit or came up with it on the spot, but that was about the best time he could have pulled one out. Not sure how much he convinced the audience that he actually will be like Tim Tebow (the applause he got wasn't exactly rousing), but he certainly got people talking about Rick Perry.

As for Tebow...well, we can't imagine he minds the mention. He really is everywhere. He didn't ask to be mentioned, but the way he's put himself out there as a highly religious person, with the Super Bowl ad, with the well-publicized work he's done for his father's ministry: he doesn't just want to be a well-known football player. And now, he's unquestionably more. He's a human barometer for the worthiness of religion. The debate about him as a player goes beyond what he directly does on the field and into whether he has some mystical winning quality. And now, he's officially, in his own small way, part of the race for the White House. And we don't think Tebow would want it any other way.